The Nature of Mind

Rama: "Revered Vasishtha, I am tormented by a question that gives me no peace. What is this mind that creates such suffering? It seems neither here nor there, yet it controls my every thought and feeling."

Vasishtha: "O Rama, you ask the most essential question. Listen carefully: the mind is nothing but a bundle of thoughts. It has no independent existence apart from consciousness. Like waves that appear in the ocean but are never separate from water, thoughts arise in pure awareness but have no substance of their own."

Rama: "But Master, if the mind is merely thoughts, why does it feel so solid, so real? Why does it tyrannize me so completely?"

Vasishtha: "Consider this, dear prince: have you ever examined a single thought closely? From where does it arise? Where does it go? When you search for the thinker behind the thoughts, what do you find?"

Rama: "I... I find nothing. When I look for the one who thinks, there is only silence."

Vasishtha: "Exactly so! The mind is like a mirage in the desert—it appears real from a distance but dissolves upon investigation. This is the great secret: the mind that troubles you does not truly exist. It is maya, a magic show projected upon the screen of pure consciousness."

Rama: "Then who am I, if not this mind?"

Vasishtha: "You are that unchanging awareness in which the mind appears and disappears. You are the witness, the eternal Self that was never born and can never die. The mind is your servant, not your master. When you realize this fully, O Rama, the mind becomes still like a lake without wind, and you rest in your true nature as infinite peace."

Rama: "How does one achieve this stillness?"

Vasishtha: "Through persistent self-inquiry and dispassion. When a thought arises, ask: 'To whom does this thought appear?' The answer is always 'To me.' Then inquire: 'Who am I?' In that inquiry, the mind turns inward and dissolves into its source. This is mano-nasha—the death of mind—which is not destruction but liberation. The mind merges back into consciousness like a river entering the ocean."

Rama: "This teaching brings me great relief, O sage. The mind that seemed my prison may become my path to freedom."